Skip Navigation

Science & Innovation Policy: Gender

Follow SciDev.Net on Twitter

Find us on Facebook

Features

  • Print
  • Comment
  • | Share

Science fails to lure Bhutanese girls

Source: Keunsel Online

21 June 2004 | EN

 

Science is a distinctly male-dominated field in Bhutan. Girls tend to perform poorly at science in school, and the number eventually pursuing a career is science is very low. At the National Institute of Education, for instance, there are only 20 women training to be science teachers.

In this article, Gopilal Acharya highlights the gender imbalance and some of the factors responsible for it. Some girls in Bhutan are put off science because they perceive it to be a difficult subject. And even girls who show promise in science classes shy away from studying the subject.

Social factors contribute to Bhutanese girls' reluctance to pursue scientific studies. Because they are needed to tackle household chores, girls are steered by their parents towards 'traditional' female occupations. And since, unusually, women — not men — inherit land and property in Bhutan, many do not feel compelled to seek a well-paid career in science.

 

Link to full Kuensel Online article

Comments (1)

girls schhools ( India )

1 July 2009

Many education centers provide various awareness programs and camps which are very helpful for today’s teenagers. There are many schools that provide various effective educational programs for girls to make them up-dated with various new information and techniques.

Add your comment

This is your network: share your views on any of our articles by adding your comments.

You need to be signed in to post a comment or to email a consenting comment author. Please sign in or sign up.

All comments are subject to approval and we reserve the right to edit comments containing inappropriate/unsuitable language. SciDev.Net holds copyright for all material posted on the website. Please see terms of use for further details.

All SciDev.Net material is free to reproduce providing that the source and author are appropriately credited. For further details see Creative Commons.

Back to Features
To the top

<

Information Services

Princess Sumaya by El Hassan Science City

After the Arab Spring

Q&A with Jordan's Princess Sumaya on where the opportunities lie for Arab science after the wave of uprisings